Irrigation and potassium fertilization effects on plant growth, tuber yield, quality, and water use efficiency of potato

• Published in: Irrigation science Vol. 42; no. 2; pp. 367 - 385
• Main Authors: Aytekin, Ramazan İlhan, Çalışkan, Sevgi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-03-2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Aquatic Pollution; Biological fertilization; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Climate Change; Cultivation; Dry matter; Environment; Fertilization; Irrigation; Life Sciences; Optimal yield; Optimization; Original Paper; Parameters; Plant growth; Plants; Potassium; Potatoes; Rainfall; Specific gravity; Starch; Sustainable agriculture; Sustainable Development; Vegetables; Waste Water Technology; Water Industry/Water Technologies; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Water quality; Water use; Water use efficiency; Anatolia
• ISSN: 0342-7188; 1432-1319
• DOI: 10.1007/s00271-023-00886-3

Potato (
Solanum tuberosum
L.) requires high levels of water and potassium to achieve optimal yield and quality. This is of importance for the sustainable agriculture, and therefore, it is quite concern of agronomists to define the proper irrigation level and potassium rates in potato. In this study, we tested three irrigation levels (full irrigation (I
100
), 66% full irrigation (I
66
; 33% deficit), 33% full irrigation (I
33
; 66% deficit)), and six potassium doses (K
0
:0 kg ha
−1
of K, K
1
:40 kg ha
−1
of K, K
2
:80 kg ha
−1
of K, K
3
:120 kg ha
−1
of K, K
4
:160 kg ha
−1
of K and K
5
:200 kg ha
−1
of K) in Agria. The study was conducted in Niğde (Central Anatolia, Türkiye, 37°56′31.8′′N 34°38′04.2′′E) as a two-year field experiment. In the experiment, the respective values were recorded for each variable; plant height 36.0–92.0 cm, maturation period 82.0–98.0 days, number of stem per plant 3.4–4.7, number of tuber per plant 4.1–7.7, tuber yield per plant 247.1–846.2 g, marketable tuber ratio 79.4–99.4%, discarded tuber ratio 0.6–5.7%, secondary structured tuber ratio 0.0–16.6%, total tuber yield 11.8–38.7 t, dry matter 19.2–21.6%, specific gravity 1.072–1.087 g cm
3
, and starch 13.2–15.9%. Besides, it was determined that the optimum irrigation × potassium interaction was achieved at I
100
×K
3
and I
100
×K
4
in terms of plant and yield parameters, and I
33
×K
3
and I
33
 × K
4
in terms of tuber quality parameters. In our work, we concluded that a water need of average 590–720 mm (not including the effective rainfall amount) and potassium supply of 120–160 kg ha
−1
in Central Anatolia will be optimal for the potato cultivation. The findings of this study will contribute to potato cultivation practices by providing proper information about the optimal irrigation need and potassium dose.